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Canucks Game Day: Vancouver looks to rebound against Islanders after a pair of weekend losses

Roberto Luongo (left) is back between the pipes for the Vancouver Canucks on Long Island tonight against the New York Islanders, a game in which the visitors must ‘penetrate into those tough areas’ in order to get some dirty goals, says winger Chris Higgins (right).

Photograph by: Jim McIsaac
, Getty Images

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Coach John Tortorella is looking for a bounce-back game from his team tonight when the Vancouver Canucks meet the New York Islanders (4 p.m. Pacific, on Sportsnet Pacific, Team 1040) in the fifth stop of their seven-game road trip.

“I thought we took a step backwards in the last game,” Tortorella said today, referring to the Canucks’ 3-1 loss in Columbus on Sunday night. “I don’t think we played poorly. I just don’t think we played in the areas I think we have improved in. So we are still looking for some consistency.

“The disappointing part to me is I thought we played well enough. It’s a game in the third period a good team needs to win. I think we’re good team, we didn’t win the game. So that’s what bothers me. Again, we are going to keep on banging away here and try to get better as a club.”

Tortorella felt his team played too much on the perimeter in Columbus and the players say getting to the front of the Islanders’ net will be a focus tonight.

“It’s something we talked about the whole game, but we couldn’t really get to the hard areas,” said winger Chris Higgins. “The one goal we scored was kind of a dirty play. We need some more goals like that. I thought we had a lot of possession time, but we were kept to the outside. We need to penetrate into those tough areas a little bit more tonight.”

The Canucks are looking to get their season-long trip back on track. After opening the trip with wins in Philadelphia and Buffalo, the Canucks lost games in Pittsburgh, in a shootout, and Columbus.

“I think we’re close,” said captain Henrik Sedin. “The last three or four games we outplayed Buffalo, we should have won the game in Pittsburgh and the last game we took a step back, I think, but that is going to happen on the way, as long as we get back tonight and play better.”

The only lineup change for the Canucks will be the return of Roberto Luongo in goal.

Luongo said the Canucks must be especially wary of Islanders captain John Tavares and linemate Kyle Okposo, who have combined for 18 points this season.

“Those are two guys you have to keep an eye on,” Luongo said. “You can’t give those guys any time and space. You have to make sure you are aggressive on them, take the body and not try to go for the puck because they’ll be by you before you know it.”

As a rookie, Tavares scorched the Canucks for five points in a 5-2 Islanders win on March 16, 2010 in Vancouver.

“Guys give me a hard time because I always say Vancouver is one of my favourite buildings to play in,” Tavares said today. “I just remember I don’t think anyone gave us much of a chance and it was the second half of the year after the Olympics and I was really getting my game going again after a little bit of a lull in the middle of the season. Things were clicking and as a team we were hungry and played hard and I just got some good bounces, some good breaks and was lucky enough to come out on the right end of a few of them that night.”

The Islanders will be without a couple of key players tonight. Winger Michael Grabner is serving the first game of a two-game suspension he received on Monday for his hit to the head on Carolina forward Nathan Gerbe.

It’s a game Grabner, a former first-round draft pick of the Canucks, hates to miss.

“I would definitely like to play against them,” Grabner said. “There’s still a lot of people that I know. It’s bad timing but we play them again this year so I will be looking forward to it when we go into Vancouver (on March 10).”

The Isles will also be missing veteran defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky, who suffered a concussion in Saturday night’s game against Carolina.

The Islanders head into tonight’s game 3-3-2 after their first eight games. Head coach Jack Capuano said he knows what to expect from a Tortorella-coached team.

“Similar system to what they had in New York, probably a few tweaks, but you can see a lot of the same things,” he said. “There are a lot of veterans on that hockey club over there and they are experienced if you go down their roster. For us tonight it’s about our work ethic and about our puck management and making sure against some of their highly skilled guys, especially their top line, that we play them straight up and we play them hard.”

• PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Jason Garrison, Canucks: Garrison enters the game tied for second among NHL defencemen with nine points. The Canucks hope his big shot can kickstart a moribund power play.

Frans Nielsen, Islanders: Jannik Hansen might be the second-best Dane on the ice tonight. Nielsen centres New York’s second line and is off to a nice start, with eight points in eight games.

ICE CHIPS: Higgins, who grew up on Long Island, said he expects 40 or 50 family and friends at tonight’s game. “I think my entire block is coming,” he said … Injured winger Alex Burrows skated briefly with his teammates at the end of this morning’s skate … Tonight’s referees are Mike Hasenfratz and Jean Hebert. Scott Driscoll and John Grandt will work the lines.

Roberto Luongo (left) is back between the pipes for the Vancouver Canucks on Long Island tonight against the New York Islanders, a game in which the visitors must ‘penetrate into those tough areas’ in order to get some dirty goals, says winger Chris Higgins (right).

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